Jill Monroe
09-20-2009, 10:11 AM
This is a dark topic, but i think as adults we can and SHOULD discuss things that are dark or taboo, thats one of the reasons we HAVE this section of the board.
Since just before i graduated highschool, and on through college and into adult life, I have read extensively on the subject of Charles Manson, "The Family" and the murders of Sharon Tate and her friends, the Labiancas. The murders happened 8 years before I was born but even as a child, whenever i recall hearing the name of Charles Manson it was always synonymous with PURE EVIL, SATAN or INSANITY. There was also a girl in my highschool , she was 2 grades ahead of me and her name was SUSAN ATKINS, the same name of one of the "Family" killers. People used to give her hell and I couldnt understand why at first until i finally asked my mom what the story of Charles Manson and Susan Atkins was. The way my mother told it...even SHE seemed haunted by it and she wasnt personally there for the crime. She said she was 15 @ the time.
In college i wanted to learn more about the facts behind this bizarre and horrible infamous "legend" and having read many books (including "Helter Skelter, written by the prosecuting attourney who tried Manson and the women who were involved in the killings) and watched several interviews, and even allowed myself to see the actual crime scene and coroner photos, and documentaries including the recent docu-drama "Manson" on the history channel (released just after the 40 year mark of the murders) I find that while I have a "better" picture of the crime, and those involved...and even though it happened before i was even born, I'm STILL rather disturbed by it and yet...i have no problem discussing it.
i think it just stems from my inate need for information and knowledge, a trait often associated with air signs (like myself) i also think not enough people understand the depth and severity of the crimes and what it meant for not just those DIRECTLY effected by it, but the country as a whole. Many people who were alive and lucid at that time and many historians have said that August 9, 1969 [the date of the murders] marked the END of the "innocence and fun love" that abounded through the 60's. People at that time actually did not lock their doors at night...but those murders changed everything for everyone across the board. I find it interesting to myself that I, living in a post Waco (David Koresh), Jeffrey Dahmer, Columbine, 9/11 world, STILL find this case to be truly unsettling. It happened once... do you think something like it could happen again?
There are so many other developments that have come from this nightmare, including pop culture references: Marilyn Manson taking part of his stage name from Charles Manson and actually COVERING some of Manson's recordings on his albums; Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails who moved INTO the house that Sharon Tate and her friends were murdered in because he thought it was an interesting part of "american folklore" before being confronted by Sharon's sister Debra and then realizing how repugnant it was and moving out ; perhaps most importantly, Doris Tate [Sharon Tate's mother] helping to revolutionize the concept of "victim impact" and "victims rights" in ways including the now COMMON practice of the families of murder victims giving victim impact statements at trials or being allowed to attend parole hearings.
I just wanted to see what people's thoughts on here were about that wholea awful, dark part of modern american history.
Currently, Susan Atkins has been trying to get compassionate release as she is dying of brain cancer. Debra Tate (carrying on the efforts of her now deceased mother AND deceased older sister) has been there every time pushing for denial. I personally feel like Susan should stay in prison. Her sentence was LIFE in prison (commuted from a death sentence when california's supreme court breifly overturned the death penalty at the time she , manson and the others were first put in prison) her brain cancer should not be a get out of jail free card. Consider Sharon Tate [who was 8 and a half months pregnant], Abigail Folger, James Sebring, Voytek Frykowski, Steve Parent, Leno & Rosemary Labianca....ALL of whom will never get a reprieve or parole thanks to Manson and his "Family". What are your thoughts on that?
Since just before i graduated highschool, and on through college and into adult life, I have read extensively on the subject of Charles Manson, "The Family" and the murders of Sharon Tate and her friends, the Labiancas. The murders happened 8 years before I was born but even as a child, whenever i recall hearing the name of Charles Manson it was always synonymous with PURE EVIL, SATAN or INSANITY. There was also a girl in my highschool , she was 2 grades ahead of me and her name was SUSAN ATKINS, the same name of one of the "Family" killers. People used to give her hell and I couldnt understand why at first until i finally asked my mom what the story of Charles Manson and Susan Atkins was. The way my mother told it...even SHE seemed haunted by it and she wasnt personally there for the crime. She said she was 15 @ the time.
In college i wanted to learn more about the facts behind this bizarre and horrible infamous "legend" and having read many books (including "Helter Skelter, written by the prosecuting attourney who tried Manson and the women who were involved in the killings) and watched several interviews, and even allowed myself to see the actual crime scene and coroner photos, and documentaries including the recent docu-drama "Manson" on the history channel (released just after the 40 year mark of the murders) I find that while I have a "better" picture of the crime, and those involved...and even though it happened before i was even born, I'm STILL rather disturbed by it and yet...i have no problem discussing it.
i think it just stems from my inate need for information and knowledge, a trait often associated with air signs (like myself) i also think not enough people understand the depth and severity of the crimes and what it meant for not just those DIRECTLY effected by it, but the country as a whole. Many people who were alive and lucid at that time and many historians have said that August 9, 1969 [the date of the murders] marked the END of the "innocence and fun love" that abounded through the 60's. People at that time actually did not lock their doors at night...but those murders changed everything for everyone across the board. I find it interesting to myself that I, living in a post Waco (David Koresh), Jeffrey Dahmer, Columbine, 9/11 world, STILL find this case to be truly unsettling. It happened once... do you think something like it could happen again?
There are so many other developments that have come from this nightmare, including pop culture references: Marilyn Manson taking part of his stage name from Charles Manson and actually COVERING some of Manson's recordings on his albums; Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails who moved INTO the house that Sharon Tate and her friends were murdered in because he thought it was an interesting part of "american folklore" before being confronted by Sharon's sister Debra and then realizing how repugnant it was and moving out ; perhaps most importantly, Doris Tate [Sharon Tate's mother] helping to revolutionize the concept of "victim impact" and "victims rights" in ways including the now COMMON practice of the families of murder victims giving victim impact statements at trials or being allowed to attend parole hearings.
I just wanted to see what people's thoughts on here were about that wholea awful, dark part of modern american history.
Currently, Susan Atkins has been trying to get compassionate release as she is dying of brain cancer. Debra Tate (carrying on the efforts of her now deceased mother AND deceased older sister) has been there every time pushing for denial. I personally feel like Susan should stay in prison. Her sentence was LIFE in prison (commuted from a death sentence when california's supreme court breifly overturned the death penalty at the time she , manson and the others were first put in prison) her brain cancer should not be a get out of jail free card. Consider Sharon Tate [who was 8 and a half months pregnant], Abigail Folger, James Sebring, Voytek Frykowski, Steve Parent, Leno & Rosemary Labianca....ALL of whom will never get a reprieve or parole thanks to Manson and his "Family". What are your thoughts on that?